RIAA fires new a shot across bow of individual file swappers

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2003-04-30 09:53am

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/030429/3/3akqc.html

D-U-M-B Dumb!

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-04-30 09:55am

I identify them as a category 'A' threat to the intellect of humanity.

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2003-04-30 10:54am

Well, seems nice that they're putting forth lots of evidence for an eventual prosecution under the RICO act. Seriously, there's no difference between this and a Mafia don coming around to charge his monthly "protection" fee.

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2003-04-30 05:23pm

It's almost funny to see them gasp, struggle, and claw, like some guy being sucked down with the Titanic.

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2003-04-30 05:54pm

I wonder how many people will be cheering if and when the RIAA ever goes down.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-04-30 05:56pm

I wonder if they would respond if you asked the messagers why they artificially inflated prices?

Saurencaerthai · Post by **Saurencaerthai** » 2003-04-30 06:52pm

*chuckles*
And so the gargantuan beast thrashes about before it breaths it's last...

As a musician and future recording technician, I would like to dissociate with the RIAA. There's a change in the musical conventions and the big guys can't keep up. I personally think that we're going to be looking at a rise in independant labels and (hopefully) less of the aural drivel that the big industry has been spewing out.

Vertigo1 · Post by **Vertigo1** » 2003-04-30 07:12pm

neoolong wrote:I wonder if they would respond if you asked the messagers why they artificially inflated prices?

"Its because of those fucking pirates!"

Fuck them. I say bring it on RIAA. I've been downloading songs since Napster came out, and I fully intend on continuing to do so until you lower your high ass prices you fucking nazis. If I see a single lawyer show up, they get the JW treatment. :p (see my "Suggestions" thread in the Morality forum)

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2003-04-30 07:22pm

Why is the RIAA concerned about piracy anyway? Record sales haven't dropped much, and it can be explained by using other things, like just plain bad artists, or high prices. Of course, they probably want to keep every cent to themselves.

Vertigo1 · Post by **Vertigo1** » 2003-04-30 07:26pm

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi wrote:Why is the RIAA concerned about piracy anyway? Record sales haven't dropped much, and it can be explained by using other things, like just plain bad artists, or high prices. Of course, they probably want to keep every cent to themselves.

Because they're nothing but a bunch of money grubbing assholes, thats why. Heaven forbid anyone NOT want to pay $20 - $25 per CD which has maybe 5 or 6 songs on it that sound like crap.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-04-30 07:29pm

Vert will know what I mean, but not so long ago there was a study carried out that showed CD sales were down because of the lack of any decent bands or value today and not because of file sharing over the Net.

Saurencaerthai · Post by **Saurencaerthai** » 2003-04-30 07:48pm

Vert will know what I mean, but not so long ago there was a study carried out that showed CD sales were down because of the lack of any decent bands or value today and not because of file sharing over the Net.

Double underline the phrase "lack of decent bands". I swear, the big guys insult every listener's intelligence with some of the crap they put out. Honestly, I saw the new Blue Man Group CD out at $20. 20 fucking dollars. Now, I can get the media it's self for how much? Less than $00.25? Yes, I know that there are expenses going to the company, the middlemen, the artists, the producers, and so on and so forth, but I refuse to belive that to get any profit off of sales, these plastic disks have to be so bloody expensive. If they had any idea of how to market, they'd bring the CD prices down to $8.00. Probably arround that price, people would actually begin to considder if the artwork and CD booklet are worth the price. Lord knows, I would gladly pay $8.00 for that! Chances are that in terms of units sold, they would see a rise and would probably be making just about the same as they are now.

'Till then, they are nothing but money-hungry leeches.

Vertigo1 · Post by **Vertigo1** » 2003-04-30 08:44pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:Vert will know what I mean, but not so long ago there was a study carried out that showed CD sales were down because of the lack of any decent bands or value today and not because of file sharing over the Net.

Exactly. Thats another reason I don't buy CDs anymore. When was the last time you heard a song on the radio that didn't sound like some cheap knockoff of some oldie written back in the 60's or so? Sure, there are some damn good bands still out there, but a good song is really hard to find now an days. Hell, I don't even listen to the radio near as much as I used to. I download the ones I like, slap them onto a CD and listen to them for as long as I please.

Streaming audio isn't even an option anymore. RIAA all but shut that down. Even the stations that played music legitimately eventually shut down because of the excessive royalty fees imposed by the RIAA per song.

I want to know one thing. Why the fuck isn't the government going after the DOJ like it did Microsoft? The RIAA is 5000 time more of a monopoly than Microsoft ever DREAMED of becoming.

(For the record, I do have a couple of CDs that I own legitimately. The Shrek (score) Soundtrack, The Mummy Returns Soundtrack, and Celine Dion's "These Are the Special Times" X-mas album. The latter being a gift several years ago.)

Post by **AdmiralKanos** » 2003-04-30 08:49pm

I'm no pirate. I've purchased 300 CD's. But I'm so pissed off with the RIAA that I don't want to buy any more. Let them take THAT and chew on it.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-04-30 08:53pm

AdmiralKanos wrote:I'm no pirate. I've purchased 300 CD's. But I'm so pissed off with the RIAA that I don't want to buy any more. Let them take THAT and chew on it.

I'd rather they chewed on sweet, nourishing lead slugs.

Who wants a jihad? First one to nail the RIAA CEO gets a Britney Spears album... FOR FREE!*

*Additional tax charges for US citizens.

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2003-04-30 08:57pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:
AdmiralKanos wrote:I'm no pirate. I've purchased 300 CD's. But I'm so pissed off with the RIAA that I don't want to buy any more. Let them take THAT and chew on it.
I'd rather they chewed on sweet, nourishing lead slugs.

Who wants a jihad? First one to nail the RIAA CEO gets a Britney Spears album... FOR FREE!*

*Additional tax charges for US citizens.

You'd have to pay me to listen to one of those.

As for the RIAA, I can see them getting more desperate to make money and assure the only way to listen to music is to buy an expensive CD.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-04-30 09:02pm

AdmiralKanos wrote:I'm no pirate. I've purchased 300 CD's. But I'm so pissed off with the RIAA that I don't want to buy any more. Let them take THAT and chew on it.

I don't pirate either. But with the way that RIAA treats the consumers, if I did, I wouldn't care that I'm hurting them. Heck, I'd be happy to do it.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-04-30 09:03pm

Waitaminute, why the hell is an organisation on the other side of the world affecting me so much?

Gah, this is so damn infuriating, I'd listen to some calming classical music if I didn't have to sell a kidney to pay for the blasted CD!

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2003-04-30 09:05pm

<=== One Word: Yarrrrrrr!!!

Vertigo1 · Post by **Vertigo1** » 2003-04-30 09:16pm

AdmiralKanos wrote:I'm no pirate. I've purchased 300 CD's. But I'm so pissed off with the RIAA that I don't want to buy any more. Let them take THAT and chew on it.

Thing is, if they weren't so damned expensive I'd be buying them left and right. I listen to music all the time, even on the way to class. All they're doing is thumbing their nose at the consumers and using people like me as their scapegoat.

They say they're doing it for the artists, but what they keep leaving out is how little the artists make off of the CD sales. Average artists make about what...2% of total sales? Bands like Metallica only get 5. If they really wanted to help out the artists, they'd be paying them a HELL of alot more than that. The artists make more money off of the fans showing up to their concerts, and buying their stuff more than anything else. Thats why whenever my favorite bands are in town, I try my best to attend their concert.

Sr.mal · Post by **Sr.mal** » 2003-04-30 09:30pm

Shit..... I'm glad I buy my cd's from a locally owned record store. The HIGHEST price I've ever had to pay for a cd was $18 and that was a double album. The cd's there only cost around $12. They don't charge as much as the big record stores, yet they make more profit. It pays to have cheaper prices because it helps keep customers coming. Plus they are going to be hiring me in a week so I guess I'm a little biased.

Singular Quartet · Post by **Singular Quartet** » 2003-04-30 09:32pm

Vertigo1 wrote:
AdmiralKanos wrote:I'm no pirate. I've purchased 300 CD's. But I'm so pissed off with the RIAA that I don't want to buy any more. Let them take THAT and chew on it.
Thing is, if they weren't so damned expensive I'd be buying them left and right. I listen to music all the time, even on the way to class. All they're doing is thumbing their nose at the consumers and using people like me as their scapegoat.

They say they're doing it for the artists, but what they keep leaving out is how little the artists make off of the CD sales. Average artists make about what...2% of total sales? Bands like Metallica only get 5. If they really wanted to help out the artists, they'd be paying them a HELL of alot more than that. The artists make more money off of the fans showing up to their concerts, and buying their stuff more than anything else. Thats why whenever my favorite bands are in town, I try my best to attend their concert.

Actaully, I'd like to point out that Artists don't evne make that much if they go with major labels. Metallica only makes money because they were big before they signed onto a labe;, so they could actually negotiate their contract.

Courtny Love did some work on this, which is explained in this article.

Macross · Post by **Macross** » 2003-04-30 11:46pm

Vertigo1 wrote:
AdmiralKanos wrote:I'm no pirate. I've purchased 300 CD's. But I'm so pissed off with the RIAA that I don't want to buy any more. Let them take THAT and chew on it.
Thing is, if they weren't so damned expensive I'd be buying them left and right. I listen to music all the time, even on the way to class. All they're doing is thumbing their nose at the consumers and using people like me as their scapegoat.

They say they're doing it for the artists, but what they keep leaving out is how little the artists make off of the CD sales. Average artists make about what...2% of total sales? Bands like Metallica only get 5. If they really wanted to help out the artists, they'd be paying them a HELL of alot more than that. The artists make more money off of the fans showing up to their concerts, and buying their stuff more than anything else. Thats why whenever my favorite bands are in town, I try my best to attend their concert.

The Recording Labels are the real pirates. They are ones making money off of other peoples work. They are just upset because they have become irrelevant.

GrandMasterTerwynn · Post by **GrandMasterTerwynn** » 2003-04-30 11:56pm

Crayz9000 wrote:I wonder how many people will be cheering if and when the RIAA ever goes down.

The primary problem being that the RIAA seems to have more of the support of the government, and the upcoming Palladium stuff is going to be like a divine light shining from on high upon them. And when one has that many lawyers working for a common cause, something's going to give. Chances are, it isn't going to be the RIAA, at least, not anytime soon.

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2003-04-30 11:59pm

AdmiralKanos wrote:I'm no pirate. I've purchased 300 CD's. But I'm so pissed off with the RIAA that I don't want to buy any more. Let them take THAT and chew on it.

Used CD stores are your friend, you'll rarely pay more than 10 bucks for a CD though the selection can be rather limited. I've also found bargains on ebay where I've nabbed CD's for about 5 bucks including shipping. If I had to pay retail for everything I would not have the ~130 CD's that I do. My fave artists get my money from me going to their concerts or ordering their CD's directly off their website at a discounted price, the record companies and RIAA can go fuck themselves before getting any of my cash.